TBILISI, August 6 – Five Ukrainian nationals who are stranded at the Dariali border crossing have launched a hunger strike, claiming they were denied entry and held in inhumane conditions by Georgian border guards.
One of the group, Sergei Larko, told Ekho kavkaza that he has been stuck at the crossing for nearly a month, while Georgian authorities refused them entry, rejected their asylum requests, and denied them legal assistance. According to his statement, 97 people are currently held at the site in overcrowded conditions, with some suffering from HIV and tuberculosis.
Larko and the other hunger strikers are demanding access to the Ukrainian consul, clarity on the reasons for their detention, the right to leave Georgia voluntarily or apply for international protection, medical evaluations, and an end to what they describe as unlawful detention.
He says he was deported from Russia on June 21, had his passport confiscated upon arrival in Georgia and his biometric data was taken with questionable legal basis.
The incident comes amid reports that Russia has been releasing prisoners, who were originally sentenced in occupied parts of Ukraine, toward the Georgian border.
